Mr. Jan AC de Smet

biography

Jan de Smet carries close to 25 years of experience in

Senior executive positions in a variety of industries including

chemicals, food, textiles and technology. Within the technology-

domain he has held several senior and board positions, in

particular in electronics, software and services.

Jan started his career with Akzo Nobel, a world leader

in specialty chemicals. After a few years in auditing he

was charged with the integration of a number of subsidiaries

into a globally operating strategic business unit.

He subsequently held several senior positions within

(dairy-) food and textile companies. As a CFO and COO he

was responsible for finance, information management, lo-

gistics and services. He served as manufacturing director

and director of marketing and sales and eventually grew

into his first general management role in the early 90’s

In 1999 Jan became CEO and managing director of

publicly listed IHG Ltd, a technology company within the

electronic payments industry, and headed the holding

company and its subsidiaries around the world.

After a period of extensive travel and international exposure

Jan returned to the Netherlands end 2004 to establish himself

as an independent advisor and entrepreneur.

In 2006 Jan joined SAM. Next to his engagement with Sam,

he still participates in a Number of technology ventures as

a shareholder and board member.